


The Nerve [Art]

by venomwolves



Category: Bandom, Gerard Way and the Hormones, My Chemical Romance, frnkiero andthe cellabration
Genre: Art, Bandom Big Bang, Bandom Big Bang 2019, Comic, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Notfic, Rival Relationship, Rivalry, Sexual Tension, some really small bandom cameos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-29 20:23:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21416137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venomwolves/pseuds/venomwolves
Summary: Frank and Gerard are rivals in the NJ music scene, and their distaste only seems to grow when they find they have to compete in a local battle of the bands competition. Of course, being forced to share a practice space after unforeseen complications is just the cherry on top.Sexual tension! Secret Feelings(™)! All heavily inspired by The Nerve by The Brobecks
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Comments: 18
Kudos: 70





	The Nerve [Art]

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever attempt at illustrating a plot. I've been stewing on this idea for.. basically as long as I've known the song, so I'm glad I finally put this all together and made it at the very least half-way coherent.
> 
> I want to thank my wonderful complement creator, [Clara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemoncave/pseuds/lemoncave) for making the most lovely and incredibly thorough mix EVER (i.e. [Make Me Feel Seasick](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1qDwmY2MhEXe4bz1UOig59?si=HxMJ6TaQTva8Rq4AijT3zw)). I could not have hoped for a better collaborator, you rocked my socks, man. PLEASE listen to this mix, guys, it's my favorite thing, they seriously captured the soul of this au. They even made ANOTHER really adorable mix, [Mikey](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5SSj9BH8avIC9eOPse264Y?si=4t0tvlwFTNKwnC-bjx_DsA), since his character was neglected in the main mix, so give that a listen as well, because it is so ridiculously cute, u guys <3 Also be sure to check out their mix post which is linked as an inspired work! Not only did they highlight some of the most important parts of the mix, but they also actually took the time to write out a couple scenes for the au!  
Also, shout out to my bro [Q](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xobarriers/pseuds/xobarriers) for cheering me on when I was insisting there was no way I was gonna have time to finish all of the comics, and [Aka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/akamine_chan) for encouraging me to expand on the idea in the first place.  
A note before looking at my art: I apologize, a lot of this is not very good quality... I don't have a scanner at home or a decent photo editor, so the majority of scans and editing was done on my phone, which is not the best. If you're looking at this on desktop, I suggest right clicking the comics and looking at them through the web host so you can read them. if you're on mobile, you should be good though.

  


The concept is the product of daydreaming in the car as The Nerve by The Brobecks plays in the background. The song always struck me as just absolutely loaded with sexual tension, and I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers trope. There’s the obvious competition type thing going on there, and I originally was thinking along the lines of a political election of sorts in the Really early stages. However, I decided against that because 1) I really don’t know enough about politics to do much with that, and 2) I felt weird about putting frank and gerard on opposite political spectrums. I was like “nah man.” And so the Battle of the Bands was born!

  


Which brings us to the main idea! Basically, Gerard and Frank are both front men for small jersey bands (essentially, Gerard Way and the Hormones/Frnkiero &the Cellabration), and they hate each other (for frankly ridiculous reasons, as Mikey would put it). Mostly, they're a bit jealous and secretly admire one another a bit, but I was also thinking when they first met there was maybe some kind of misunderstanding and they both left terrible impressions. Hence, Frank thinks Gerard’s an indie pretentious asshole, and Gerard thinks Frank’s a grungy douche-bag rat bastard.

So battle of the bands auditions are happening and both bands make it in ofc, when suddenly! Frank's informed his band’s usual practice space has like a burst pipe or something, and they can’t use it because it has to be redone!! And here’s where mikey, the omnipresent middle man, comes in! He works with eyeball and let's Gerard's band use a room there during off hours, and Mikey and Frank are bros despite Gerard's insistence that Frank is The Enemy(TM).

  


SO. after Gerard throws a bitch fit about frank using his space and Mikey promptly informs him he's being ridiculous, they get down to business and start gearing up for battle of the bands (which is like. couple weeks away, ig, idk I'd say the entire story probably goes for about a month). EXCEPT that they start sabotaging each others practice time in various ways (i.e. Frank fucks with Gerards gear, Gerard drags his practice time out too long, etc., ya know, small petty things), which builds up to A Big chase-each-other-around-the-studio-trying-to-kill-each-other Montage (Peacemaker by Green day hardcore inspired this scene), which is eventually interrupted by Mikey innocently coming to drop off some things. So he's like "what the actual fuck, you guys gotta clean this shit up, I could get fired for this??" cause they had kind of wrecked the place in the midst of the fight.

So then they end of inadvertently bonding while cleaning up and they find that they're not so different after all and have a lot of common interests and get along surprisingly well when they're not at each other's throats, so they're both like. all torn up and conflicted cause it's like "WAIT he's not supposed to be COOL, he's EVIL! and PRETENTIOUS! AND HE HAS REALLY BEAUTIFUL EYES ANd a nice smile and wAIt, WHAT."

So things are weird after that night, and they're all "I CANNOT have feelings for that guy, no fuckin way" but they keep having MOMENTS after that and it's CONFUSING, cause they still act snotty and fuck with each other like before, but it's more OBLIGATORY now cause they don't know how to DEAL with these FEELINGS and they're STUBBORN!!!

So by now battle of the bands is pretty close and things start getting tense!  
THEN. Okay, so one night, after Frank and his band finish practice, Gerard shows up pissed about Frank fucking with his fuzz pedal. Frank stays behind to deal with Gerard, and his band mates leave.  
By now they've really started to warm to each other, so they're almost flirting at this point. Gerard's pissed, but kind of admiring at how Frank screwed with his gear. He can't even figure out how to fix it, so he has to begrudgingly asks frank to undo his tampering.  
Frank's actually really knowledgeable with music tech and wiring and stuff, and Gerard's low-key fascinated. It's kind of a moment of solidarity. They're almost enjoying each other's company, and Gerard's letting his barriers slip.

  


Right, so after that dramatic and angsty scene, the remainder of the days leading up to BotB are especially tense. Both bands have abruptly ceased fire after That Night(TM) and the other dudes in the bands (who I've successfully failed to mention in this entire plot, lol) are a bit worried at the lack of both enthusiasm for the competition and aggression (or just general contact) between Frank and Gerard.  
NOW, it's the day of BotB and Frank's totally torn up over That Night(TM), and HAS BEEN since it happened, but it's all built up and he's starting to tear at the seams. So, speaking of neglected side characters, James Dewees is Frank's roommate and best friend in this, and he's kind of noticed frank's going through shit, so he's finally like, "dude, what has been fucking you over so bad, you look like your dog died." so Frank caves and spills the tea and James totally hands frank his ass and is like "dude why exactly AREN'T you guys together, like. half of the scene thinks you're currently dating" and they just kind of talk it out and Frank realizes he's been really stupid about this whole thing. And fuck, he wants to know the Real Gerard, he WANTS Gerard, but he might have blown it.

SO NOW BotB is happening and there are OF COURSE other bands, mind you. like, various bandom cameos and such, BUT THEN yet ANOTHER neglected side character is RAY (OF COURSE!!), who is also competing as a solo act. And his part in this entire story is that he is a recurring character who's just a ray of sunshine (no pun intended) and any time he'd interrupt Frank and Gerard's little disputes, they'd like. automatically be all friendly and once Ray'd walk away, they'd be all "he's so nice, I love that guy" and then a couple moments would go by and they'd be like "so anyway, fuck you."

BUT ANYWAY, so BOTH Frank and Gerard are mopping SO HARD, and Frank and his band do their set and it's almost like the shit with gerard fuels the show and it's GREAT, they fucking kill it, but frank doesn't give a shit about that anymore, all that's on his mind is Gerard. So then, right after their set Frank rushes off stage to find Gerard, cause he can't stand it anymore.  
Let me intercept here tho-- My lovely complement creator, Clara, actually inspired me to do this next piece! While talking about Overpass’s placement in the mix, they said “I have the image in my head of Frank catching sight of Gerard while in the BotB multiple times but just always almost catching up, always just barely missing him, and it makes me laugh”, and I just loved the idea.

  


So he finds Gerard backstage getting ready cause his band will be on soon...

Then! After Gerard’s performance, the winner is announced!

woot! so yeah, that's pretty much it!! as an epilogue, I was thinking both Frank and Gerard's bands would end up getting record deals a little later on and MAYBE? they would even collab in music as a couple ?? PERHAPS.

ah, then to close, here's my "big" piece for the challenge :)

The end!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [make me feel seasick](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22569946) by [lemoncave](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemoncave/pseuds/lemoncave)


End file.
